He helped murder more than 3500 people. The Neuruppin district court has sentenced a 101-year-old former guard of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to five years in prison.
The Neuruppin district court sentenced a 101-year-old former guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to five years in prison on Tuesday for being an accessory to the murder of more than 3,500 people.
Five years in prison for former concentration camp guard
The convict has protested his innocence to the end in the trial since October 7, 2021. “I don’t know what I should have done at all,” he said in his closing remarks on Monday. The man’s defense had pleaded for acquittal and referred to a decision of the Federal Court of Justice, according to which the mere activity in the security service of a concentration camp is not sufficient for a conviction, but concrete actions must be proven. The court failed to do this. The public prosecutor’s office, who had demanded five years in prison, saw it differently. The representative of the private prosecutor had also pleaded for a prison sentence.
The proceedings of the Neuruppin Regional Court took place at the 101-year-old’s place of residence in Brandenburg an der Havel because of his advanced age. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was set up north of Berlin by the National Socialists in 1936 and existed until it was liberated by the Red Army in 1945. In total, more than 200,000 people were imprisoned here and tens of thousands were murdered.
More on this shortly at the star.
Sources: Neuruppin district court, Sachsenhausen memorial, DPA and AFP news agencies
